It all began with fear. One day, returning from a walk in the forest, young Kvothe, an actor in a traveling troupe, found a terrible charred ruin where their camp for the night had stood. And the mutilated bodies of his fellow actors, his wandering family. And the shadows of strange creatures hiding in the darkness of the forest. Thus the Chandrian, a mysterious race whose name is used to frighten children and whose dreadful deeds are told of in ancient legends, first invade the young man’s life. Now Kvothe’s goal is to find the killers and make them pay. But to fight demons, one must master knowledge inaccessible to ordinary mortals—study the magical arts and learn to command the elements…